Bafana’s need for Nigeria to win their final World Cup qualifier against Benin saw Mzansi display a rare form of affection for the Nigerians.
Such is the joy from South Africans after Bafana Bafana qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, that they have offered things they ordinarily wouldn’t offer Nigerians.
“Make Chidimma Adetshina miss South Africa,” wrote someone on Twitter after Bafana Bafana confirmed their qualification to the global showpiece.
The tension between South Africa and Nigeria is well-documented.
make chidimma adetshina miss south africa! 😭😭🔥🔥🇿🇦🤝🇳🇬
— himmy neutron. (@kaggiso) October 14, 2025
The friction between the two nations stems from their dominance as continental powers in their respective regions, driven by economic, cultural, and sporting supremacy.
However, Bafana Bafana’s need for Nigeria to win their final World Cup qualifier against Benin saw South Africans display a rare form of affection for their West African counterparts.
South Africa took on Rwanda in their final match of the qualifiers, but that result wouldn’t have mattered had Benin beaten Nigeria.
Listening to Burna Boy having okra soup and jollof rice for breakfast. LET’S GO NIGERIA! ❤️❤️❤️💚💚💚 pic.twitter.com/6w8HceOPIg
— Rory Petzer (@RoryPetzer) October 14, 2025
However, the latter’s win, together with Bafana Bafana playing their part in beating Rwanda, booked South Africa a ticket to the World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada next year.
ALSO READ: ‘There are times I cry myself to sleep’ – Chidimma Adetshina on Miss SA experience
SA offerings for Nigeria
The call to crown Adetshina as Miss SA is a rather peculiar one, considering how several South Africans wanted the damsel to be disqualified from the beauty contest because her father is Nigerian.
Miss Universe Nigeria invited Adetshina after she decided to withdraw from the South African pageant.
Come to think of it, Adetshina Chidimma was a compelling candidate for Miss SA. We just had a few misunderstandings there and there.
— Michael de Villiers (@Mikedotcoza) October 14, 2025
On Friday, following South Africa’s stalemate with Zimbabwe, which placed Mzansi’s hopes of qualifying on Nigeria beating Benin, South Africans began showing gestures of kindness towards the West Africans.
“Oga, you have one job and everything is forgiven. We can share Amapiano,” one person wrote on X, tagging the Nigerian Football Federation in his offering of Amapiano.
Oga, you have one job and everything is forgiven. We can share Amapiano @NGSuperEagles
— Lesilo Rula (@kay_mahapa) October 10, 2025
Nigerians have long claimed that they invented the South African dance genre, a claim with which South Africans have vehemently disagreed.
Super Eagles yethu💪🏽🇳🇬 https://t.co/l8E60HEJe4
— Vutomi_Liverpool (@tomzanaNthane) October 13, 2025
In 2023, US rapper Swae Lee had to apologise to a hoard of South Africans who swiftly called him out for crediting the Amapiano sound to Nigeria, instead of Mzansi.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Swae Lee apologises for saying Amapiano is Nigerian
History of the tension
In 2024, following Bafana Bafana’s semi-final clash with Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations, which the Super Eagles won, the banter between South Africans and Nigerians reached a point where the West Africans began claiming ownership of Amapiano.
“Both are large economies and geographically and demographically huge countries with relatively well-educated populations,” Ayesha Kajee of the Africa Asia Dialogues (AFRASID) told The Citizen in 2024.
The former director of the International Human Rights Exchange program at the University of the Witwatersrand, Kajee, said the ongoing tension between the two nations stems from their dominance as continental powers in their respective regions.
“As regional hegemons in West and Southern Africa, respectively, both attempt to be the leaders on the continent as well, hence the competitiveness between the two.”
In 1996, the South African football national team won the African Cup of Nations, and there have always been murmurs about how Bafana Bafana might not have won it had defending champions Nigeria participated.
Nigeria withdrew from the tournament at the final moment under pressure from then-dictator Sani Abacha.
